Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Hill thought that Lynn's inquiry about Terry and the Forest Temple meant he was planning to build a temple of Miliel here too, but he did not bring it up again.

It seemed to be just to verify the accuracy of those two pieces of news.

Hill hesitated for a moment but chose not to say more.

Miliel's temples rarely stand alone; they are usually associated with the God of Knowledge, Oghma.

But Lynn greatly disliked the priest of the God of Knowledge in Quirael Town.

Although Hill did not know why, he felt it was best not to meddle.

He only hinted, through his tone, that anyone who wished to build a temple could.

Yet Lynn deftly changed the subject; it appeared he truly did not want to get involved.

Compared to the priests of the God of Singing, Lynn seemed to have a greater inclination towards the bard profession, but his relationship with Miliel remained very close.

Hill could feel the divine patronage on Lynn.

Hill was a little baffled, but this was Miliel's affair, one he could hardly question further.

"Then how do you plan to reject them?" Lynn asked, "To say they are children, they are actually probably older than you.

But likely not even half as steady as you.

If they really think you're looking down on them, those fools might not know what they could end up doing."

Hill watched Lynn silently, remembering the incidents in Silvermoon City.

Back then, Lynn had not reacted this way.

"Why look at me?" Lynn chuckled, "I did not praise you for being steady. It's only in comparison to them. You went to Silvermoon City last year and didn't meet the commander of the Silvermoon Alliance's army, right?

She has been hiding inside the palace of Elaströ for the past two years, not wanting to deal with that bunch of foolish children.

It's fortunate that we are not Moon Elves; otherwise, we'd really have to deal with invitations to subdue our ancestral lands."

"The Mage Lord of Deepwater City?" Hill suddenly remembered that Kelben was indeed the last of the Mistral elf bloodline.

Lynn sighed softly, "Otherwise, why do you think the North has been so turbulent recently? Kelben has completely denied his elven bloodline. He would rather subjugate an ordinary city on the Supreme Wastes than to have any ties to Mistral.

If he agreed to go there, many magical facilities in Mistral would recognize him, and in the end, Mistral would still belong to the elves.

Actually, if he said Mistral wasn't his aspiration and he did not wish to have any connection with it in the future, we could understand.

Who would want to cooperate with fairies and such foolish Elf Crusade!

But Kelben has categorically denied the elven blood flowing through him.

Didn't he resurrect once? He claimed he doesn't feel he has any other bloodline, aside from the human form granted by the Goddess of Magic.

But many elves in Deepwater City initially followed him because of his Mistral bloodline; otherwise, why would they randomly follow a human?

And not one with as good a reputation as Elaströ.

Now that this has happened, those elves are somewhat breaking apart and will likely leave.

Deepwater City is currently somewhat chaotic."

Hill glanced at Lynn, and though he spoke lightly, Hill detected the complex feelings in his words.

Lynn was a half-elf who grew up in the forest; unlike Kelben, he took pride in his elven heritage.

Kelben's actions were something he could understand, but the feeling of being despised was still there.

Despite Lynn's usually carefree character, he too felt this way, let alone the inherently sensitive elves.

Even the Elven Pantheon would be angry at Kelben's disdainful attitude towards elven bloodline.

Hill sighed inwardly; so, Kelben's choice to relinquish his physical body and only leave behind his soul later on was also related to this decision, wasn't it?

While he might have gained the respect of humans and the recognition of the Goddess of Magic, he had deeply offended the Elven Pantheon.

The situation was irreparable; there was nothing to do but wait for the Goddess of Magic to resurrect him again.

And while Mystra usually favored her Chosen, the resurrection of the Black Staff has been long delayed, probably connected to this issue as well.

"I'm planning to go to Deepwater City in a week," Hill informed Lynn with a smile as he fell into contemplation.

"What for?" Lynn suddenly snapped to attention.

"The spring grand auction at the Deepwater City auction house. There are many items from other continents and even other worlds. I'm quite interested," Hill passed the invitation to Lynn to see.

List had brought it down just now, thinking that Hill would definitely tell Lynn.

Lynn opened the invitation and watched the changing images floating before his eyes, his lips involuntarily twitched, "Did they also send you ones from other cities?"

"Yes," Hill nodded, "But I wasn't interested in those. I only spent money on some useless stuff at the Silvermoon City auction because I wanted to find a bone to pick with Valkin."

"Such invitations can only be made by alchemists of at least level 12, and not just any guest can receive one," Lynn looked up at Hill, "Receiving this high-level invitation means you've been recognized as the master of a power. You're a fearsome strong entity who could shake the Northern Continent just by stamping your foot.

You should understand that no matter how powerful those human nobles are in their own countries, if they're not the king or a high-level professional capable of inspiring awe, they will never receive such an invitation.

These must have been sent after the Ambori battle, right?

Logically, they should've been delivered right after the Dead of Winter."

Hill found it a bit amusing, "So those nobles just give in? How could their items possibly be worse than someone else's? Why does the invitation need to make such a distinction?"

"Of course, it's because those are existences that can't be dealt with by the nobles' money," Lynn chuckled coldly, "Hill, your world must be very peaceful, at least the nobles don't appear too greedy.

In Toril, the ones most likely to harm ordinary people are definitely not demons or devils, but these nobles.

And stories about nobles, because of their greed, angering the strong entities and leading to the extinction of their families and nations, have never ceased to occur.

No auction house would want such a thing to happen at their auction.

Because of some treasure, real anger arises, fights break out at the door, the auctioneer gets his entire family wiped out, and then some survivor appears years later to take revenge, annihilating the perpetrator's family as well."

Lynn spoke in a sing-song manner, with an innocent smile on his face, "Not a single auction house would allow themselves to become the backdrop of such heroic tales.

Unless it's true, if a bard dares to write such things, they'd be hunted for a lifetime.

So you see, if the name of an auction house appears in a bard's storybook, it's either fictional or has appeared in reality but is already out of business."

Who would go to such an auction house that causes homicide cases? Who knows if they will be the unlucky victim?

The high-level invitations and the private boxes at the auction house are matched, and the nobles must understand what sort of people they absolutely can't mess with using those trashy tactics.

Although outsiders might still appear, it has gotten much better before, at least incidents wouldn't happen on the spot."

It took Hill a while to fully understand the hidden rules.

No wonder the auction houses in this world can only be established with the support of a city or nation. No matter how wealthy, merchants dare not get involved."

"Then, do you want to take a look?" Hill asked slowly, "I think there shouldn't be any more problems now that you're with me, right? Dear friend, I'll cover the cost of food and accommodation."

"Of course I'll go," Lynn stated firmly, "To sit in one of the top-level private boxes, I'll definitely enjoy myself.

My life is certainly safe now.

My friend, even if you were to leave this world and go home, no one would lay a finger on me.

After all, why would someone who could trouble you bother with someone as insignificant as me, and risk offending the God of Singing in the process?"

Since Lynn was willing to go, Hill took him to Deepwater City on the day of the auction.

The journey from the Undead Swamp to Deepwater City, if on foot, would take only two days.

Hill's carriage made it in just two hours.

Lynn sat in the carriage with an incredulous expression, "So your carriage can run this fast? Last time you really went through trouble slowing it down!"

"This alchemy carriage is capable of low-altitude high-speed flight," Hill answered, "Last time we were on the ground, of course, it was slower."

Lynn didn't say anything more. Hill was already very wealthy, and even if multiplied several times over, it was still unfathomable to Lynn.

Now, he was less shocked by it, as it was beyond his imagination.

Looking at the gates of Deepwater City before him, Lynn casually asked, "Do you plan to stay here for a few days before leaving?"

"I think, when Kelben comes to discuss adventure matters with me, I can choose to completely ignore him, as I've always considered myself a half-elf," Hill answered with a smile, "So I can definitely stay in Deepwater City for a few more days. Since you asked, do you have any accommodations to recommend?"

Hill's carriage drove straight into Deepwater City without being stopped by the guards, who were infamously ill-tempered in Deepwater City but showed great reverence.

It seemed they already knew whose carriage it was.

"The luxurious one can be seen right on the main road, that's the Jade Pot, with regular rooms costing between 12 to 30 gold coins per night, and suites from 25 to 50 gold coins, very luxurious, a place even the nobles would envy.

There is also another inn called Traveler's Delight, located at the northeast corner where Celdus Street meets Bell Street. The room price is only 6 to 12 gold coins, but it's quite cozy. Plus, they have a famous private library, frequented more by scholars."

Hill laughed, "Dear friend, we don't need to consider whether it's luxurious, as long as it's distinctive. Let's go to Traveler's Delight!"

Lynn actually had his own preference, but for Hill's sake, he suggested the luxurious inn called the Jade Pot.

Hill was more than happy to fulfill his wish.

Even though they had already seen the luxurious sign for 'Jade Pot,' Hill's carriage still turned a corner and took Celdus Street.

Hill decided to secure a room at the inn before heading to the auction house.